Kick Your Ass Idea #120 – Live Like Obi Wan

If you’re a Star Wars fan, you’re already familiar with the Obi Wan wisdom that is peppered throughout the Star Wars saga. In fact, you may have become so taken with the philosophy that you actually joined the Jedi Church. Go ahead and chuckle, but the fact is, there are more Jedi in New Zealand than Buddhists. As an Irish friend of mine says, “May The Farce Be With Ye”. But you don’t have to buy a Lightsaber, grow a beard, and start wearing silly robes to take advantage of the wisdom of Obi Wan. Aside from his ridiculous paradoxical statement “Only a Sith deals in absolutes”, it’s pretty good advice. I was reminded of this recently, when I had a little conflict with someone that was escalating unnecessarily, and I broke the tension by saying “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can imagine”. This didn’t stop Darth Vader from taking a whack at Obi in the movie, but my associate busted up laughing, and came around to my point of view. Why? Because THE FORCE WAS WITH ME. As a mind control tool, you may find Jedi techniques less effective. Although the phrase “These are not the Droids you’re looking for” may be useful if your friend is pondering a bad cell phone choice. Below is a quick list of Obi Wan Wisdom. And the epic scene where Darth Vader wins a battle, but loses a war.

Be patient.
Relax. Take a deep breath.
Don’t focus on the negative.
Be mindful of your thoughts.
You must do what you feel is right.
Let go your conscious self and act on instinct.
Your eyes can deceive you. Don’t trust them.
Stretch out with your feelings.
You can do it.
There’s no such thing as luck.
Don’t give in to hate. That leads to the dark side.
Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.

This is probably going too far. But note that this is “Storm Trooper”, not a Jedi.